19 March 2012  The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission and the African Development Bank (AfDB) are strengthening their partnership in support of post-conflict countries in the continent that are on the agenda of the institution, its former chair told the General Assembly today.

“By deepening the collaboration between the [Peacebuilding] Commission and the AfDB, there is now much better clarity on concrete areas where both institutions could jointly work in support of peacebuilding priorities on the Commission’s agenda,” said Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana of Rwanda, the body’s former chair, when he presented its report to the Assembly.

The partnership would be in resource mobilization and advocacy, policy dialogue on critical peacebuilding issues and possible collaboration in the activities of the Peacebuilding Fund.

The Commission was set up in 2005 to help post-conflict countries avoid slipping back into war and chaos by providing strategic advice and harnessing expertise and financing from around the world to support recovery projects.

The Commission currently has six post-conflict countries on its agenda – Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

According to the report presented to the 193-member Assembly, a new road map will be developed this year to bring more focus to the Commission’s priorities and results. It will include actions aimed at enabling each country to spell out its expected outcomes, drawing on relevant country-specific indicators and mutual commitments and indicating how achievements would be measured.

The report recommends that the Commission further strengthen its relationship with key entities at UN Headquarters.

“Despite the ongoing progress, the Commission still expects more active reflection of the increasing importance of post-conflict peacebuilding across the United Nations system, but, more importantly, in the work of the principal organs,” according to the report.

It calls for “greater synergies” between Peacebuilding Fund investments and peacebuilding priorities supported by the Commission that will be pursued through consultations between the countries and the Fund.